Improvement in floating-velocipedes



VILLIAM FRANKEL, OF

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

Letters Patent No. 94,588, dated September 7 1869.

'IMPROVEMENT IN FLOATING-VELOCIPDES.

The Schedule referre to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

Tov all whom tt 'may concern Be it known that I, WiLLIAM FRANKEL, of the city of Springfield, in the county of Clark, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful improvements iu mode of propulsion for small vessels, and whh can he applied to hand-cars and street-cars for railroads, and to other wheeled Vehicles; and I do declarc that the following is a full, clear, and accurate description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of niy invention consists in using a wheel with projections or treadle-pins on each side, near its ].eriphery, in combination with oscillat'ing seats, (which are connected, by rods, to cranks upon the. shaft of a ressel, or, in a hand or streetcar, or other wheeled uehicle, withthedrving-axles.ofthe same,) said wheel,

being moun'red upon the shaft or axle in such convenient position as will enable the operators to use their feet upon the treadle-pins, or projeotions, to propel such vessel, car, or other wheeled vehicle, forward or backward, as may he desired.

Also, in providing the seat-pieces with pivots at their ends, upon which theyl turn `easily, to allow the operators to maint-ain an erect position while operating the propelling-mechanism. I

Figure 1 is a sideelcvation of a ressel, to which my improvements are applied, having side-Wheels p p.

Figure 2 is a plan of the same vessel.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In fig. 1, A represents the hull of the vessel, B, upright posts with cross-bar, upon which oscillat-ing seats are mouuted .'ld connected, with rods ll, to the cranks upon the main shaft G. These oscihating seats, with' their "onnections, are fully described in my application for a patent for an improvement in vclocipedes, filed April`19, 1869, and I do not claim them as a part of this invention, hut the hanging of the seat-pieces b b and b' b' upon pivots e c, in the centre of their ends, is an improvement iu the oscillating-seat motiou therein set forth: The seat-pieces b' b' are shown in a horizontal plane, while the frame of the seat is inolined by the downward motion of the crank. The treadle-pins of the central wheel W are shown at a n, fipon the paddle-wheel, and also, the pen'phcry of the wheel` in dotted lines. D D are the rudder-post-s with cross-levers upon them, to which cords aa are attached for steering, running fore and aft the vessel, and crossing each other amidships.

` Figure 2 shows a plan of the vessel with central wheel W on the sha-ft G, and the treadle-pius, or projections n n on the same. It will be seen that the operators, on either side, can use their feet' upon these treadle-pius to .aid in propelling the vessel in either direciion, those on one. side only using them at a time. The shaft G hns an outer sleeve, s, fitting upon it, to which the paddle-wheel, on each end, is attached. J,his sleeve has a set-screw, c c, to tighten it upon the shaft or loosen it from the same, when only one wheel is used, as in turning the vesscl. The horizontal position of the seat-pieces b' b' are clearly shown in this figure, and the pivots e c, which support them at the centre of their ends, are also seen.

T'hvadvantagc of thepivoted seat will be evident, as secniu the drawings, as it cnables t-he'operator to sit erect during the bachward and forward motion.

The weight of the operators thrown upon the treadle-pins n n of the. wheel \V, will start the vessel or vehicle in either direction, as it will easily throw the cranks ofi` their centres. A

In using my invention upon hand or street-cars, its

advantages will be scen in starting them with a load. One or more 'propelling-wheels, VV, may be used upon them, as desired, or according to the number of axles, and any number of`persons occupying the seats can work thcm-one-half iu each direction, as in a hand-car with two' axles. Sixteen persons, or four upon each seat, can work two propelling-wheels, eight at a time, in either directiou.

Having t-hus described my invention,

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-- 1. The propelling-wheel-W, with treadle-pins, or

projections n n, in combination with the 0scillating-- seat movemen t, as shown and described.

2. The arrangement of the seat-pieces b b and b' b', with pivots e e, in the oscillating-seat movement, in combination with the propelling-wheel W, and treadlepins, or projections n n, as shown and described.

\Vituess niy hand to my application fora patent for an improvementin-mode of propulsion, this 3d day of May, 1869. i

VVitnesses: VVILLIAM FRANKEL.

I. Euenssrnnenn, D. O. CoNvEnsn. 

